“No minister has admitted the reality of this problem,” denounces Samu Urgences France

The new Prime Minister assured that he would make it a priority, but the president of Samu Urgences France does not believe it and calls on the State to “take its responsibilities”.

Two out of three emergency services operated in degraded mode at least once this summer, according to a survey by Samu Urgences de France. “A damning figure, the State really must take its responsibilities”denounces Marc Noizet, the president of Samu Urgences France, guest of France Bleu Alsace on Wednesday September 18.

The resigning health minister says this summer has gone better than usual. “No”, answers Marc Noizet, also head of emergencies at the Mulhouse region hospital group. “This is not the first time, it is the third minister in three consecutive summers who tells us that ultimately the situation is not so serious”he laments. But “the reality of what we see, because we questioned emergency workers in the field”is that “two out of three services were forced to operate in degraded mode this summer.” Samu Urgences France also noted that a “Smur out of two, these resuscitation vehicles which come to the side of the road or to homes, were also forced to operate in a degraded manner”. According to him, these data are “a figure which is overwhelming and which reminds us once again that the State must truly take responsibility in the face of the deterioration in the provision of emergency care.”

For him, the first problem is “the medical demography of emergency physicians which is no longer able to meet the needs on French territory” explains Marc Noizet.

“Overall, 30% of positions are vacant in France. And we continue to operate with all emergency services as if we had all the staff, so inevitably, you have gaps.”

Marc Noizet, the president of Samu Urgences France

France Blue Alsace

So, “When we can no longer find replacements from outside these services, or when the overtime hours demanded of doctors can no longer be done beyond what they are capable of giving, there are breakdowns.”

Among the solutions proposed by Samu Urgences France, it is first to go through 15 (or 115) before going to the emergency room. “This is part of the solutions that we must agree to implement throughout France.explains Marc Noizet. It simply consists of helping the patient find the right care pathway. By going through Samu 15, you have a regulating doctor who will assess your care problem and tell you the best place for your health problem. He helps you find the solution. And this solution is not always the emergency room. So in this way, you also save the emergency services”. According to him, “in this way, we are able to reduce emergency services by 15 to 20% and therefore provide faster and better quality care for patients who really need to be treated in the emergency room.”

The Prime Minister said he would make this issue his priority: “I don’t believe it, retorts Marc Noizet, It is a word of reassurance as other Prime Ministers have done when they took office.” Samu Urgences France is waiting “a real awareness of this problem and to become aware of this problem is to admit that it exists. Today, no minister has admitted the reality of this problem”summarizes Marc Noizet.